KARACHI, March 16: The 38th Jubilee Insurance National Snooker Championship which cues off at Karachi Gymkhana on Sunday will serve as a curtain raiser for 29th Asian Snooker Championship being held here from April 27 to May 3.

The country’s premier snooker championship will see 40 cueists vying for honours in the annual event of Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) calendar which concludes on March 25.

The winner and runner-up of the national’s will qualify to represent the country in the Asian spectacle.

Pakistan has the honour of playing host to the Asian snooker contest thrice in the past — 1991, 1998 and 2007. This is in addition to the world meet held here in 1993.

Pakistan’s top player Mohammad Asif, who is also defending champion, will be up against home cueists for the first time after crowning the world title at Sofia, Bulgaria, in December.

Asif faces Sindh’s Mohammad Ishtiaq in his opening group A match at 10am. Other three seeded players — second seed Asjad Iqbal, third seed Sultan Mohammad and fourth seed Sohail Shehzad — who are placed in different groups also play their respective first match alongside Asif in the morning session.

The participants have been equally drawn into eight groups and top two from each will qualify for pre quarter-finals. The group matches concludes on March 21 followed by the knockout stage.

This year’s national’s has a special charm for the cueist who score highest break as he will earn a sum of Rs25,000 — Rs10,000 as part of prize money and another Rs15,000 announced by the Karachi Gymkhana.

Meanwhile, all the outstation players have arrived here to compete in the event.

Sunday’s fixtures: Mohammad Asif (Punjab) v Mohammad Ishtiaq (Sindh), Asjad Iqbal (Punjab) v Amir Rasheed (Punjab), Sultan Mohammad (Sindh) v Raja Akaash (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sohail Shehzad (Sindh) v Qamar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) at 10:00am; Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) v Mohammad Javed Ansari (Sindh), Mohammad Javed (Punjab) v Mohammad Bilal (Punjab), Shahid Aftab (Punjab) v Amir Tariq (Punjab), Sharjel Mehmood (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) v Mohsin Amin (Punjab) 12:00pm; Babar Masih (Punjab) v Amir Shahzad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abu Saim (Punjab) v Najeebullah Khan (Balochistan), Mohammad Yousuf (Punjab) v Imran Shehzad (Punjab), Umair Alam ((Sindh) v Mohammad Uzair Khan (Sindh) at 2:00pm; Mohammad Majid Ali (Punjab) v Rambel Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) , Abdul Sattar (Sindh) v Abdul Rehman (Balochistan), Vishan Gir (Sindh) v Khizar Aziz (Sindh), Khurram Agha (Sindh) v Imran Shehzad (Punjab).